US Sen. McCain says Syria torture photos no surprise, current peace talks 'joke'

DAVOS

U.S. Sen. John McCain, who was himself the victim of torture many years ago, says he too has seen evidence of torture in Syria, and predicts little progress at peace talks now underway in Switzerland.

McCain, a Republican who lost the presidency to Democrat Barack Obama in the 2008 elections, called the so-called Geneva II talks aimed at finding a political solution to the war in Syria "just a joke."

In an interview  this week, McCain said the thousands of photos released this week by Anadolu Agency, which are said to show systematic torture and execution by the regime of Syrian president Bashar Assad, came as no surprise to him.

McCain told an AA correspondent Thursday that he had been in Syria and had visited camps for those displaced by the war.

"I met with defectors from Bashar's army who told me how they were instructed to kill, rape and torture," McCain said. "I met with young women, for example, who had been gang raped. I met with young men who had been tortured. It did not come us a surprise."

McCain, who is 77, served in Vietnam in the U.S. Navy. His aircraft was shot down in 1967. He was held as a prisoner of war for five and a half years and tortured so severely that, to this day, he cannot raise his arms above his head.

The senator said unacceptable acts had been committed by both the Syrian regime and the opposition in Syria.

"But these are generally random acts committed by the opposition," McCain said. "But what Bashar Assad is doing is a planned systematic intimidation and terrorizing the population." 

He also criticized what he called the lack of leadership by the United states, and advocated enforcing a no-fly zone over Syria. 

Criticizing the lack of United States leadership in Syria and the current US government he said, "Of course what is most disappointing we would like to hear from the president of United States. He never talks about Syria. He never talks about Iraq. All we know he wants to get out from Afghanistan. We are paying very heavy price for."

He said that he has been advocating a "no fly zone" and an area that people would receive humane treatment and be protected for more than two years criticizing that the current US administration had even "refused to give anything minimal assistance" to Syria. And he said he wished Obama would help arm and supply those fighting Assad, though the senator opposed the sending of American troops to Syria.

But McCain said he had low expectations for the ongoing peace talks, though he did hold out some hope for a ceasefire and the delivery of humanitarian aid. Such an agreement might even benefit Assad, McCain said, by allowing him to free up his forces to go on the attack in other areas. The momentum, McCain said, is now with Assad.

And the situation is complicated, he said, because some of the opposition groups are affiliated with al-Qaeda -- and are also active in Iraq.

"We will see continuous international chaos in the region," he said.

But there is a force for good --, a rock, he said, on which the rest of the world can rely during turbulent times in the region. And that is Turkey.

"Turkey is clearly the most influential nation in the region," McCain said. "It's my understanding that the Turkish people are very unhappy about this flood of refugees into Turkey. ... But they have to understand this is a regional conflict. Its not just Turkey, its Jordan, its Syria, its Iraq, spreading throughout the entire region."

Because it is "one of the greatest nations on earth, particularly in  Middle East, Turkey can play  a very constructive role," he said. He added that he would like Turkey to give more assistance to the Free Syrian Army.

By Gokhan Kurtaran

englishnews@aa.com.tr